A Tale in Konoha
by blueinle
Summary: A story told of Kakashi's little told past. Some graphic violence. No sexual situations.
1. Chapter 1 When it Rains It Pours

Chapter 1 When it rains it Pours  
  
I was a rainy day in Konoha village. Three students from the ninja academy were standing waiting on a bridge, drenched and disconcerted. Sakura, a girl with long pink hair, seemed to be the most annoyed. She had her hand on her hip and a look of dissention on her face. Sasuke, a boy with dark features, sat on the bridge railing with an uninterested look upon his face, rain dripping from his hair. Naruto, a boy with yellow hair, sat on the bridge with his arms and legs crossed. His demeanor was close to Sakura's. They had been waiting there for their sensei for quite some time. But then it was often like this and as annoying as it was, it was a part of their routine.  
  
Naruto hated the silence. Even more so he hated being cold and hungry in the rain. His stomach growled and he rubbed it, and it growled louder. "Hey! Hey! Sakura-chan, why don't we go and get some food. I don't think I can wait for lunch much longer." Sakura growled and glared at Naruto. She turned to Sasuke and said, "Where is Kakashi sensei? We could have spent the morning indoors out of the rain." Sakura's Inner-side, that only she could hear, screamed "Yeah and I wouldn't have spent so much time on my hair if I knew Sasuke was going to see me like this anyway!"  
  
Sasuke waved his hand disconcertingly in the air at the two as if they smelled bad "Why don't you two shut up. You're both making this more miserable then it has to be" He neatly folded his arms, and hunched over. That's when footsteps where heard on the end of the bridge. They all turned there heads to look at a dark scarecrow-like figure. With skewed silver hair, he wore his headband across his left eye, and a cloth covered his nose and mouth. This man carried a book with him continuously and read from it often. Today seemed to be no exception to that rule. Some wonder if the pages are laminated.  
  
"Kakashi sensei why do you take so long!" Sakura yelled. Sasuke jumped onto the bridge.  
  
Naruto jumped up and butted in. "Hey! Hey! Sensei we have been waiting here in the rain, and its almost lunch time." His stomach growled again.  
  
The tall silver haired man spoke. "Ah, I found myself wandering the road of life and unfortunately I took a wrong turn." He titled his head and smiled. He neatly tucked his book inside his jacket.  
  
"That's a lie sensei admit it!" Sakura pointed and yelled. "That's right you tell him!" Inner Sakura shook her fists.  
  
"Yeah, well..." Kakashi scratched his head and chuckled. "I think we should move today's training indoors, there were no missions handed out to us today. I figure we can head over to the academy there are a few rooms not yet taken."  
  
Sasuke sighed and walked past Kakashi. Sasuke saw no reason in playing around besides it would be nice to be out of the rain. Sakura slumped and frowned and followed Sasuke. Even though she never got a straight answer from the man she called teacher she still would rather be indoors. It wasn't worth continuing the one sided argument. Delighted Naruto ran up to Kakashi. "Um sensei... can we go get something to eat first? Maybe some ramen to warm us up?"  
  
Kakashi stopped walking and turned to Naruto. "Well that would be fine except I already had lunch sent to the academy." He ruffled Naruto's wet hair and began walking again. Naruto stopped in his tracks. It was rare that an adult took care of this sort of thing for him. Surprised and delighted his blank face brightened with a smile and he once again ran after Kakashi waving his hands he yelled. "Is it Miso Ramen!!?"  
  
At the Academy  
  
They sat in a classroom and finished off their lunches. Naruto sat rubbing his stomach and thanking Kakashi for the meal. Sasuke put his empty carton aside and leaned his head on his hand. "SO Kakashi what are we going to do today since we are not on a mission."  
  
"Ah," he scratched his head. "Well I hadn't really had a lesson plan ready." he leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk and his hands behind his head. "We can always review our missions and talk about what we could have done better as individuals and as a team." A disconcerted sigh was heard from three young students. Kakashi raised his eyebrows, "Unless you have a better plan."  
  
The loudest of the group definitely had his say. "Hey! I have a better idea I think that since we waited in the rain so long we should be able to do individual study." Naruto's idea was smirked, and frowned at from the other two.  
  
Sakura leaned forward, with her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her clenched fists, she said. "I think that Sensei should tell us a story. My mom always tells me stories on days like this." The thunder sounded in the background and Sakura sighed and looked out the rain drenched window.  
  
"Sakura-chan that's a great idea! Sensei, tell us of how you got your Sharigan, and that scar! Were you always known as the great copy ninja?!" Naruto exclaimed.  
  
"Hmm, yeah," Smirked Sasuke, "we deserve at least a good Anbu story for waiting like we did in the rain."  
  
"Yeah, yeah one with action and intense situations, and cool jutsu's we don't know yet!" Naruto nudged Sasuke and grinned widely at his teacher.  
  
With three students grinning at him Kakashi was in quite a situation. His past wasn't something he liked to go over too many times. Opening up to people could really make things harder. But these were his students and they were kids. He remembered his own youth and the desire to hear such stories. It was quite a rainy day and the mood seemed fine. And if he felt uncomfortable he was sure he could leave certain things out of the story. Kakashi took his feet off the desk and leaned forward. "Well then I can tell you a story and it will have all that you asked for a great Anbu story and I'll wrap my history in to it." Kakashi taped the headband covering his eye. "But first you must swear to me that as my pupils you won't reveal anything I tell you to anyone, and we won't discuss it any further then what is told to you on this day."  
  
The three kids nodded their heads emphatically already caught up on the mysterious mans story. They were already glad they had waited so long in the rain. 


	2. Chapter 2 Mistakes

Chapter 2 Mistakes  
  
Kakashi once again leaned back in his chair and looked at all three kids. How far should this tale go? Should he pepper it with non fiction or should it be complete truth. But then what tale has complete truth? A fantastic story that could make them go home and wonder, Kakashi had plenty of those. But they wanted to know about things he didn't tell many. A ninja's secrets were to be kept. But these kids were also his soldiers, and in the aim of teamwork a good story could build moral.  
  
He could tell them this tale. It wasn't something he had to keep from them. It was simply something he preferred not to talk about. He looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes, and began.  
  
"Konoha was not always a peaceful place. Even after Kyuubi was defeated we had restless times. As many of you know in these times we had differences with the sand nin and thunder village. It was always important to have Anbu our Hidden Ambush squads. It was important to me to be an Anbu, it summed up that I had learned everything I needed. And Assassination was something I excelled at. It was also important to me because my best friend Obito was on my squad. The two of us had a lot of good times together, and we had hard times too."  
  
Sasuke gasped "Obito? I know that name from somewhere."  
  
"Yes you probably do he was a great ninja." Kakashi countered. "But please dont interrupt my story." Sasuke nodded his answer.  
  
No more words were needed.  
  
"As I was saying Obito and I were on the same Anbu squad for a very long time. We had grown up together and had been on the same jounin team, same as you three. About the time the Hyuuga family had their differences with the Thunder village we were given a mission on the outskirts of the village. Our Captain was a very scrupulous man who was only a few years older then Obito and I. He had been recently assigned as our captain because of ranks being moved about and some Anbu taking on other tasks for Konoha. Either way we felt like we were a newly assembled team and we really didn't know what to expect from this new captain. He seemed to brood a lot and was very quiet." Kakashi shrugged looking at the kids he could tell the introduction was waning, time to go off on a tangent before he lost there interest.  
  
"...and he wasn't to good at taking jokes. Obito and I had decided on about the fifth day of sitting outside the village watching for, we didn't know what, that it was time to liven things up a bit" Kakashi smirked and chuckled. "Obito found a small rodent I think it was a mouse or shrew, and he tied a small explosion scroll, you know the kind that make a loud fire cracker noise but nothing to serious." He smiled and the boys nodded and smiled with approval.  
  
This was a common trick that boys in Konoha played on people who were unsuspecting. You tied a scroll on something that moved and tied another string onto the string that held the scroll in place and let the animal run. You would pull the string you still held just in time to release the scroll from the animal but also to cause a loud pop, that often caught the surprised of others. It was a grand trick and many of the boys in town played this game.  
  
"So we let the mouse go and it went right into the log that our captain was sitting on. Can I tell you? We could barely stop ourselves from bursting out laughing out right and spoiling the trick. I mean it was absolutely perfect that it ran under there. Obito felt a slight tug as the mouse decided to run again. He pulled the string and the mouse ran out of the log unharmed. And at that moment, POP! And the whole log jumped. Captain Osamu fell off the log, feet in the air onto his head." Kakashi took a moment and laughed very hard at this memory. It was nice to relive old times and the kids seemed to enjoy it too. Naruto was laughing and slapping his knee and Sasuke smirked and nodded his head. Sakura laughed and held her stomach. Kakashi remembered the prank Naruto played on him when he met them for the first time. This made him chuckle a bit more. It figures that Kakashi would get Naruto the great prankster. It was probably some payback from Hokage. Naruto kind of reminded him of Obito with his great sense of prankery. But then Kakashi was pretty good at playing pranks too. After all his best friend taught him a lot.  
  
Still chuckling a bit he began again. "Truly the best part was his feet in the air. Here he hadn't hardly grunted at anyone on the squad in five days since we had not only met him but got the assignment. It was a thing of beauty. Osamu was mad. He got up from the ground with a red face and a sore ass. That's when Obito and I were made to go scouting, in opposite directions. I guess Osamu didn't like our teamwork. Hehehe.  
  
So I did as I was told, and scouted ahead and made camp that night all by myself. It wasn't a big deal except that in a scouting mission most squads tried to keep at least two Anbu together. One ahead and one behind, but here I was alone." Kakashi put his hands up in the air with a slight shrug. "If anything happened there was little help or news to be heard. Same for Obito, but I wasn't as worried about him as I was myself. In the beginning of the evening everything seemed normal. But as the night progressed there was a lot of whispering in the air. I couldn't hear it quite clear but I could tell someone was speaking quietly somewhere near by. As a scout it was my mission to find out where the whispers were coming from who was whispering and what they were whispering about. I broke my small camp and went forward into the forest. I probably went about a 1/2 mile from my camp when I found nins from thunder village talking quietly in their camp. There was a small smokeless fire, but these nins weren't very skilled because they hadn't thought much about the attention light and the smell of food might bring them, or possibly they weren't worried about it. I am not sure, but I got close enough to listen right into what was going on."  
  
Kakashi remembered that night long ago like it was yesterday that it happened. He sat in the dark night right behind the large loud nin that wanted to talk so much. He sat so close he could feel the warmth of the fire. He almost dared himself to get closer. Its true that he was sitting almost back to back with him. It's funny how recollection will bring back second thoughts and one thing Kakashi remembered was that their camp wasn't fortified in anyway. There were no traps that he had to worry about. Or so he thought. Kakashi sat forward and gripped a pencil from off the teachers' desk. Damn if he hadn't been playing around trying to get as close as he could. Thoughts swam in his head and then he looked up. He must have stopped long enough to cause interest the kids were looking at him with slightly puzzled looks on their faces. He gave them a comforting smile, tapped the pencil on the desk once, and continued.  
  
"What I heard wasn't very alarming. The nins were on a mission to ambush Konoha if negotiations with Leaf Village didn't work out to their favor. I did however pick up talk of a third nin that was part of their group. They commented that they were glad he had left to scout for spies. I guess the guy kind of creeped them out. At this point I was quiet sure that I was being watched from somewhere near by but I stayed as still as I could so he could listen to their conversation. As weird as it seemed I began to get tired. For some reason I felt warm and started to drift off. I did a genjutsu release. That's when I heard a deep voice from above me.  
  
'It seems that wolves don't run in packs anymore' he said from above me. I could tell by the tone in his voice that he was smirking and he though he had me pinned. I didn't move but I started to think ahead as to what I could, should, and would do. The other two nins in the camp stood up and turned at their comrades voice. I heard kunai flying towards me in the air, and deflected them with my own. I continued to sit as still as possible. The nin from above jumped down at me through the trees and threw a few more kunai at me. I got up from my crouch as quick as possible and jumped up into the trees where he had come from, and made my escape as quick as possible. This is when it began to rain. But these guys were quick and I had to do all that I could to keep ahead of them. Also the creepy guy had genjutsu knowledge and that could cause problems with an escape if he got ahead of me or if I lost my bearings. It took me several hours to get out of the forest, when it had only taken me minutes to find them. It was while trying to avoid them and get away that I realized they had wanted to pull me away from the post I was at. They removed me so they could move forward towards captain Osamu, undetected and without problem. These three were simply a diversion. I was a bit angry at my mistake. Boredom and fatigue had done me in. It was my own brooding that had helped me make this mistake. And now I needed to get back to the captain and see if there was anything I could do at all to help.  
  
I moved as quickly as I could towards the last place that I knew they were stationed. Unfortunately the Thunder nins were also close behind me. I figured I could out run them and then have reinforcement when I arrived at camp." Kakashi stopped. Opened his jacket and pulled out a toothpick from his pick holder. This is where the story began to get harder to tell. He breathed deeply. It was time to start the journey into facing the past.  
  
"But when I got to camp the squad had been overwhelmed. Captain Osamu was alive and gutted. His intestines were strewn all over the ground. He was lying on his side gathering them closer to him and muttering something. The medic on our team was lying dead on Osamu's legs. He died from a simple Kunai in his chest. Kami had been kind to that healer. He was another one of the people I had grown up with from the village. And quite it was a shock to see this sight. The entire camp was covered in the blood of my fellow squad members. I came to Osamu and asked if I could help and he looked at me but his eyes were already glazed over, it was the look of a dead man. Osamu was no longer there. He had died but was continuing to gather his remains together. I had seen it before and I saw it happen afterwards. Sometimes the soul leaves and the body continues the souls fight. There is nothing you can do when this happens. It is the way of death."  
  
Kakashi began to stare off again and Naruto coughed.  
  
"Kakashi sensei if this is.." Sakura began but Kakashi waved his hand at her.  
  
"Sakura it is of no mind. While memories are hard to speak of they remain to haunt you in vivid detail. I probably could never describe the brutality at which out squad was decimated. But I was there and on days like this when I think of it. I can still smell the wet blood in the air and I can still feel the cold and the rain. It is possible that the rain had made the scene more gruesome by way of washing the blood around the ground. But for some reason I still felt that it was meant to be this way. I stood up from my Captain and I said to him 'Osamu you are a good captain you can go now I will avenge you.' Osamu reached out to me from the ground and then laid his head in the bloody mud and died. I was exhausted but had found new energy in this anger. I had found rage inside me swelling and blinding. And I realized my best friend was out in the other direction and that he had probably met the same situation as I did. I had information that could possibly help the Hokage. But could I get there before the nins that did this got to Konoha? Would my information matter at this point? Was it even all true or good information? I didn't know, but on instinct and adrenaline I made my next decision. I was going to defeat those following me and take care of those ahead of me. I was going to avenge my new captain who I had failed and I was going to make sure I could take care of my own business as soon as possible." Kakashi had a hard look on his face. Sasuke knew that look he had felt those feelings many times before in his life. The boy simply nodded his head. He needed to know now. Did his teacher fulfill his quest for vengeance? Sasuke was really glad he had waited for Kakashi in the rain all day. 


	3. Chapter 3 Standown

Chapter 3 Standown  
  
Kakashi looked up and gaze passed the kids and seemed to see through the wall even. It was obvious to the kids that he was no longer sitting there in the room with him. His mind had finally reached back to those days and felt them as if it had happened minutes before. There was a deep silence in the room that hung in the air. The former Anbu shook his head gently as if to clear his mind. He was after all trying to tell a story and regression wasn't going to do any good.  
  
"Well," Behind his mask Kakashi smiled a grim smile. "I had little resources but luckily enough some of my dead cohorts had some small land mines. I knew I only had gained at least a fifteen minutes ahead of the squad that chased me and if I calculated things correctly I could at least get one or two of them before I had to physically fight, and if things got bad I would have to summon my nin dogs. I didn't think I would have much trouble with the two I had crept up on but I was pretty sure that I needed to get them out of the way first thing. The third nin was going to be my challenge. I gathered a few things from the dead around me and buried the few mines. I had timed things pretty closely they came as soon as I hid behind a muddy outcrop near the camp. The large loud nin and his skinny friend came first and the last nin was nowhere to be seen just as I suspected. Luckily the large one ran straight into the last mine I had left. The explosion startled the other one enough that instead of running forward he jumped up onto the outcrop I was hiding behind. He was turned perfectly facing where his companion had just blown up. He had no idea I was there, so I too the opportunity and cut the tendons in the back of his knees with my kunai. He fell forward screaming from the pain. These two seemed to be merely sacrifices they were at less of a level then the three of you and it clearly showed me the mistake I had made by seeking them out the night before. As I had sliced the mans legs I was able to get a clear view of the field before me and I could see the other nin standing on the edge of the forest with his arms folded which infuriated me. It was as if he were watching kids play." Kakashi's eyes hardened and grew fierce. He nodded his head and smirked once more. "The thing was he was right where I planned on him being when this went down. I knew he had seen me and I had taken the other two out completely without a problem so I calmly walked out into the open area. Here we stood facing each other down, only a few yards apart. He made the first move as he began to form a seal I hadn't seen before. But dont be fooled I didn't get the name copy ninja because of the sharigan that you've seen me use. I was born with an advanced bloodline and was able, even before the sharigan to copy a ninja's movements and seals. So that's how this battle began. This was a jutsu I had never seen before but when the seal began with tiger and ended with hen I knew it would be a strange and unique jutsu. That's when we both yelled 'Static Wind!' and pushed our hands forward completing the seal. I heard a strange noise like a hum roaring at me. And I could see that completing the same jutsu had begun to create a tornado of electricity. It was small but it hadn't begun to much more then spin in place. Using this as an advantage I threw several Kunai's through it. They flew through the tornado dragging some of the electric current with them. Just as a good measure I wanted to make sure that my opponent was looking away from my kunai's I ran full force in a wide arc around the tornado. Unfortunately my kunai's I had thrown were drawn back into the tornado probably because they had become static. But the force of my throw and probably the weight of the few kunais put the tornado off balance and it mirrored my movements. I ran at the wide arc from the right and the tornado filled with electricity screamed in an arc toward him from the left. The ninja was completely stunned, and I laughed because at that moment I realized he had just used his strongest jutsu. He hadn't even waited to see how I fought he thought his jutsu would be strong enough to get me out of his way. I wild joy and laughter came from me and I ran at him throwing a few exploding kunais wounding him greatly. He stumbled and fell backwards into a puddle, wet and scarred he tried to scoot away, but I believe it was mostly at the horrific scene of his jutsu coming back at him and crazed ninja baring down on him that made him fall. He couldn't even get up to run or fight. He sat there with his eyes and mouth wide open completely stunned and silent. The tornado reached him before I did. It was at this point letting of high arching bolts of electricity. Its spin was charging it and it electrocuted him as he sat there. The tornado killed him, and must have found a ground because it died itself and left me standing alone and wet in the blood soaked field, the smell of the burnt man before me. I dropped my kunai's and laughed. I can't tell you why I laughed it wasn't that I thought any of it was funny, looking back I am sure a lot of it was fatigue. I can't tell you how tired I was but when the laughter left me in silence I knew I couldn't stay there. I turned around and looked at the battlefield ahead of me and realized that the village probably needed me. Obito too, was no where to be found, so he either ran on ahead and to the village or he was still off in the direction he had left. I choose to go to the village. It wasn't far and I could find out if my friend was there and also see what the village might need from me. I was sure they would want a report. So I ran back to the village.  
  
When I got to the gate I could see that there had been no bloodshed and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The first group of nins I found were Iruka and his two team mates. And I asked them if they had seen anything out of the ordinary. Iruka told me of the sacrifice that was made by the Hyuuga family and there was no other news. The Thunder nins left without so much as a wink carrying off what they had come for. That's when another Anbu showed at my side, it was Gai sensei. Have any of you met him?" The three shook their heads. Kakashi snickered at this and said "Well dont ever challenge him. He takes it very seriously. And the challenge never seems to end." He laughed and sat forward. "Dont get me wrong guy is a good guy, and a good ninja. But he has a very different type of personality. It was good to see another Anbu and we stepped aside and discussed the recent events. You see a regular Konoha ninja is not on the front lines. In many ways it is hidden from us the events that are taking place while we eat sleep and move about the village. There is a whole world out there that with training hopefully you will get to be a part of. Leaf Anbu are Konoha's elite and in many ways the most honorable ninjas we have."  
  
Naruto burst in saying as usual that he wanted to be elite. That he would be an Anbu and then he stopped and said. "Hey, Hey can Anbu become Hokage?"  
  
Kakashi was glad to take a break from his story and replied. "Yes the 4th was Anbu before he because Hokage. From what I understand his role was to protect the 3rd which is one of the highest ranks as Anbu and most dangerous." Naruto folded his arms and sat back with a determined face. Kakashi loved to see the wheels turn in Naruto's mind. Naruto was so full of life and although he was loud and often made mistakes he also had a way of coming through and he was determined enough that he never gave up.  
  
"Anyway Gai let me know that they had been able to hold off a rush of invaders before they reached the gates." Kakashi began again. "They had killed several and had several killed on our side. I let him know of the slaughter I had witnessed and asked if Gai had seen Obito. Gai let me know that no one had come back from our group but me. Something about that panicked me. I truly hadn't realized that everyone in the group I left with for training had obviously been killed. At this point I knew I needed to find my friend. I asked Gai to let his superior know what I had seen and that I was going with a few other nin to see if we could find him. I grabbed Iruka's group and we headed out for the area that I though Obito would be in." 


	4. Chapter 4 Honor

Chapter 4 Honor  
  
Kakashi stopped a moment and looked a bit confused. "Hmmmm," He said after a moment. "You know I dont recall who Iruka's two comrades were. I dont think they live in the village anymore." He sat there thinking again for a moment and shook his head. "Hmmm. Well Anyway the four of us ran toward the forest. Iruka can run fast and he had a very strange look of concern on his face. It wasn't until much later that I heard tell that there were reports sent back from someone that there was something going on in the forest. He had been sent out with these two and scouted in the direction Obito was in and had heard some strange things but never found anything and went back to the village empty handed.  
  
We reached the clearing and the field where Osamu and the other died. I silently signaled to then to steered them around the mines that hadn't been set off yet and we ran into the forest to the left where Obito would be. We ran deep into the wood tracking down as best we could the marks of an Anbu.   
  
As I have told you the Anbu are elite. Tracking one is difficult. But Obito and I had once upon a time made our own signals in order that we as a team could stick together and yet be apart. Amazing how childhood games can come in handy when you are older. As an Anbu you dont want to be tracked so what we would do is he kept dark black pebbles from the stream. He liked them and his hair was black, I dont know it fit him. And I collected the light brown pebbles. We would leave a pebble at the base of a tree near the leaf litter so the pebble wasn't noticeable unless you knew what you were looking for. This system was predictable and easy to follow. And so I followed the stones.  
  
Maybe that's the reason I didn't notice..." He trailed off. "I was looking for the pebbles and I didn't notice signs of disturbance in the wood. But Iruka had and he and his team mates stopped short. When I noticed they were no longer at my side I stopped and looked back the few paces and saw something that made my heart stop. There hanging from a branch was the severed head of another shinobi. I couldn't tell who it was but his eyes had been removed and his tongue had been extruded on purpose as if to mock us. On the ground far below us was his head protector. Obviously the others were not use to seeing these types of display. One on Iruka's team leaped to the ground and vomited. On the battle ground that Anbu face these types of games and warning were often played. This kid had obviously seen something he was meant to see and this was his punishment and our warning. That's about the time that I felt that Obito was possibly in the worst danger he had ever faced.  
  
I turned and looked ahead and saw the next pebble a few yards away. Iruka joined me on my right and said something about hurrying. Something about the other two going back… But I couldn't hear any of them. It was as if the whole wood became still and sound left me for a moment. The forest came in towards me and formed what I saw as a path and it seemed red with blood. That's when the world came back to me screaming at me and the path was gone and the rush was there I moved forward. Flying through the forest I knew... I knew inside that things weren't right. Flying into the future I pulled several kunai out and pushed down my mask as the onslaught came. I threw the kunai into the forest because I knew they were there hiding in the shadows waiting.   
  
Everything I saw was red but clear three ninjas came out of the path and I cut into the easily forming my own path of blood. All three fell as quickly as I hit them. None of them saw the electricity that consumed them before their death. All three falling in the deafening silence that played for me. Yet I could still hear Iruka's steps behind me never hesitating, I ran quickly at what I saw was a clearing within the forest. What I saw there hung up like rag on a clothes line was Obito. Rage tore into me. This was my brother, my closest friend. And there his body hung lifeless strapped to a tree his arms splayed, his head hung limp." Back to the present Kakashi sighed hard and put his hand across his hidden mouth. Tears formed in the corner of his eyes. All he wanted now was to get through this and yet his emotions came back to haunt him. Seeing this Sakura glanced at Sasuke and remembered her own pain only a few weeks ago. She looked back at Kakashi and tried hard to hold her own tears in. The room filled with tension as they all witnessed more then they expected from the mysterious teacher. Kakashi moved his head band a bit and looked up at them.   
  
And said, "He was all I had left."   
  
His face mask grew dark with his tears and Kakashi held desperately to his emotions his eyes cloudy and his mind racing. "We had grown up together and with Hanako our female counterpart. We trained with the 4th. And when Kyuubi came to the village I lost Hanako and my sensei the 4th Hokage all in the same night. You wonder why I am hard on you why I want you to work as a team. Because every time my team was divided I lost someone I knew dearly. I didn't become shinobi without knowing there would be risks and losses. I never thought at any point that I would lose my teammates." Kakashi's head hung in silence and the boys could here sniffles coming from where Sakura sat. Both of them were now holding in their own tears thinking of there own loses and pain.  
  
"Everything from this moment on was nothing but pain." Kakashi's voice cracked. "I tried to rush forward to him. But everything around me seemed to go in slow motion and every part of me felt heavy. The red I had previously view the world as turned to blue and I lost the feeling from my back down through my legs. I looked down and saw that Iruka and his mates were holding me back and screaming at me to stop. But I could barely hear them as if they were talking to me through a glass jar. My footing slipped and I scrambled to go forward as they held me and I cried out a million thing but they wouldn't let me go. Iruka must have seen that I had no clear understanding. He took out a kunai and went to throw it at Obito's body and that's when I heard for the first time what he was saying to me.   
  
Kakashi it's a trap you can't go there. We can't recover him.  
  
Iruka through the kunai at Obito and I watched it in slow motion as I sank to the ground. It hit the tree that held the one person in this world that I had ever loved like family and he exploded. Who ever had killed him had rigged his body with explosives. They made him into a trap for those of us that would come looking for him. And they left him with No HONOR!" Kakashi slammed his fist on the desk and tears flew from his eyes. His face mask was now wet from his hidden eye. Even the sharigan found sadness in this moment.   
  
"There was nothing I could do. Nothing I can say, that can take this pain from me. Every piece of training, every part of my life was torn from me on that day. And I live every day trying to simply remember the good times we had and not the way that he was put on display. And no matter what I think of there was no way I could have saved him." Kakashi's anger raged within him. Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other. Maybe they weren't the best of friends but they were teammates and when it came down to it they knew they would do what they could to save the other. Naruto thought of what kind of pain and guilt that Kakashi must have felt. It would be hard to manage life through it.  
  
"I passed out then and there and I didn't wake up for several days I hear. Hokage-sama made sure to wait until I woke to hold Obito's memorial service. Anyway..." Kakashi trailed of and wiped away the remaining tears from his eyes.  
  
"Thats the end of that tale." He looked up at the children and could see the looks of pain and concern on their faces. He wondered if he should be telling them this story. Naruto was now sitting back in his seat with his hand between his legs a solemn look on his hanging face. Sakura quietly wiped her own tears. Sasuke seemed to be in quiet reflection his hand clasped in front of him. Kakashi got up from the desk and walked over to their table he knelt down and put his hand on the table bring all of their faces forward. He tilted his head and a grin formed behind the mask.   
  
He smiled at them trying to calm them and said, "Its time to go. I think its past time for dinner. Plus I think the rain has stopped. If it rains again tomorrow meet me here and you can write a essay on what you feel my story taught you."   
  
Naruto groaned at this and began to complain. Sakura and Sasuke both grumbled at Naruto under their breath. Kakashi got up and turned to get some things in order before he left himself. He could hear the three get up and leave. He turned to walk out of the room and there silently stood Naruto with his hands in his pocket looking at the ground.  
  
Kakashi tilted his head and said "yes?" Naruto looked up and smiled his wide smile he put his arm behind his head his elbow pointing to the sky. Naruto's action made kakashi wonder if Naruto had always done this or if he had picked it up from himself. It was something that the 4th had always done, and it was funny to see this kid do it too.   
  
"Um... well.. sensei I was wondering if next time it rains you could tell us a story about a time when the 4th Hokage trained you and Obito?" The question stunned Kakashi. And he smiled and led Naruto out the door to the hallway. Kakashi simply nodded his head and messed up Naruto's hair. Naruto smiled the largest smile that Kakashi though he ever had seen the boy smile. "Thanks sensei." Naruto walked a head only a moment then turned and waved. Kakashi waved back and watch Naruto walk down the hall and out the door.  
  
He himself walked down the hall slowly reflecting on the day when he reached Iruka's door it opened and Iruka popped his head out. He looked up at Kakashi and said "Was Naruto? What are you all doing here?"  
  
"Hi Iruka, It rained today so we had a lecture." Kakashi said rubbing his own head much like Naruto just did. "Hey Iruka don't I owe you dinner?"  
  
"Do you?" Iruka said a bit confused.  
  
"Yeah I think I do and it's a bit over due." Kakashi said, "So what sounds good?"  
  
Iruka shut the door to his classroom and thought a minute. "Hmm… How about some ramen?"  
  
"Ramen huh?" snickered Kakashi. "Is that all you people think about? Then ramen it is."  
  
Iruka simply smiled and they walked toward the exit of the academy. As Kakashi shut the door he turned to Iruka and asked,  
  
"Hey Iruka, do you ever think of the time with Obito?"   
  
Iruka stopped in surprise as the door clicked shut.  
  
The End 


	5. Message from Author: Inspiration

Inspiration.  
  
Now that you've finished reading I want to share with you my inspiration for this work. Many Naruto fans argue over Kakashi his past and how mysterious he is. We all have our own views but thanks to my firends at Naruto Chaos and some excellent fan artists. Here are links to the fan arts that inspired me. While I didn't draw it the pictures they brought my imagination to life. Thanks to those who have given me the strength to write this and hats of to those who inspire.  
  
http://www.tsukinousagi.net/naru/fanart/kkaso.jpg  
  
http://www.tsukinousagi.net/naru/fanart/skaka.jpg  
  
http://www.tsukinousagi.net/naru/fanart/yonkaka.jpg 


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